


In Brightest Day

by MightyAmphitrite



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Al Potter is a DC Fanboy, Comic-Con, F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen, International Fanworks Day 2018, John Stewart's Green Lantern is his hero, and so is his dad, father-son bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 09:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13701237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MightyAmphitrite/pseuds/MightyAmphitrite
Summary: "When you know something’s wrong and have the power the change things, you have the responsibility to try and make things better. John was a regular guy before the ring chose him, right? The ring thought he was special, that he was up to the challenge. Then he had to choose to take it on."Eventually, every kid gets around to asking what makes Harry Potter so special. When the time comes to explain things to his youngest son, Harry takes some inspiration from another of Al's heroes.





	In Brightest Day

**Author's Note:**

> This fic ties in to my At Hogwarts 'verse, but can easily be read on its own. A WIP I adjusted for International Fanworks Day.

“He’s starting to ask questions, Harry,” Hermione said as he helped Luna clear the table. “I think it’s time.”

Harry set a handful of linen napkins on the kitchen counter and sighed. He glanced out the window; the kids were in the backyard playing tag, and Al had just dodged Hugo and gone sprinting across the lawn.

“I thought I had more time,” he murmured as his laughing son got tagged and raced after the others.

Hermione patted his arm. “Give a bit of thought to what you want to say, then tell him. He… he asked Ron why you were special. When we came to the door. Which means he’s started hearing things.” She shook her head, looked out the window, then back at Harry. “He needs to hear it from you.”

Harry took a deep breath and nodded. “This weekend, maybe…”

“You can take him to Wells this weekend,” Luna chimed in, coming up behind them with an armload of dishes. “Rolf is working on a project in Ireland, I can take Jamie and Ariadne for a visit.”

So after bidding the other three farewell on Friday afternoon, Harry and Al shouldered their backpacks and Apparated to the front step of a small house in Wells that only the family knew about. Al bounced in place while Harry fished out the key; at six years old, he handled Side-Along Apparition far better than Harry had as a teenager.

Al ran inside, throwing his bag into the room he usually shared with James and heading straight for the toy chest. He and Harry spent an hour helping the Lantern Corps defeat a herd of rampaging dinosaurs; while Al escorted the final stegosaurus into the laundry hamper-turned-prison, Harry put a frozen pizza in the oven. By the time the buzzer sounded, Al had put away his toys and Harry had set the table and assembled the bagged Caesar salad mix he’d brought from home. A visit to Wells with Dad meant frozen food and takeaway, but the solitude of the Muggle community was worth it.

The other perk, which Al was quite excited about, was television. Harry had signed up for a streaming service that provided them with a vast library of cartoons to watch, and he had gotten DVDs to fill in the gaps when a favorite character or theme wasn’t represented. And as the only child present, Al got to pick what they watched.

While Harry put a bag of popcorn in the microwave, Al pulled out a disc of Batman Beyond episodes. They watched Terry McGinnis foil a plot against his mentor Bruce Wayne, the bowl of popcorn propped between them.

“Justice League next,” Al said as the credits rolled. He pulled the bowl onto his lap and scooted closer to Harry as his father pulled up the list of episodes available for streaming. Al picked a two-parter where the Green Lantern faced off against Gorilla Grod, his eyes glued to the screen even as his head drooped onto Harry’s shoulder.

Their night of fun was coming to a close. Before another episode could start automatically, Harry turned off the TV and sent Al off to brush his teeth and change into pyjamas. Harry dumped the unpopped kernels at the bottom of their bowl into the bin, thinking hard. Then he rinsed out the bowl and headed into the boys’ room.

Al smiled up at him from the bottom bunk; Hal Jordan beamed heroically at him from Al’s shirt. Clothes with the John Stewart incarnation had proven impossible to find. Harry smiled back, sitting on the edge of the bed as Al crawled under the blankets.

“Good trip so far?” Harry asked, and Al nodded eagerly. “Tomorrow we’ll walk around the market and get the makings of a picnic.”

Drumming his fingers against his knee, Harry continued, “I wanted to talk to you about something. Because people say things about me sometimes, and I want to help you understand what they mean.”

Al nodded again, looking a little unsure. Harry sighed.

“When I was a kid, a bad thing happened to my family, and I got a lot of attention for it. I didn’t find out until I got to Hogwarts, but because of what happened, people looked at me differently. They thought I was special.”

“Were you?” Al asked, his eyes wide.

“Sort of. Because of what happened, when the man who hurt my family came back, he thought I was special, too, which caused a lot of trouble. And later I realized that I was the only person who could stop him from hurting other people, so people still think of me as the person who did that, and I’ll never really be a regular person to them.”

When Harry paused, fumbling for more words, Al said, “Some big kids at the park said that. That you’re a hero.”

“Not just me. Everyone who helped me, who believed in me and stood by me when things got hard: they’re all heroes, too. But people looked to me first, because they thought I was special, and that’s why you’ll hear things like that.”

“Wasn’t there a hero _you_ could call? Like with the Bat Signal?”

“Well, I ended up being the only person who really knew what was going on, and what needed to happen to make things right. You know what your Mum says, knowledge is power, and wherever there’s power, it comes with responsibility,” Harry said.

Al scrunched up his nose. “That’s Spider-Man, Dad.”

“Well, I’m sure Green Lantern would agree with the concept,” Harry added hastily. “What I mean is, when you know something’s wrong and have the power the change things, you have the responsibility to try and make things better.

“John was a regular guy before the ring chose him, right? The ring thought he was special, that he was up to the challenge. Then he had to choose to take it on, right?”

“Being a Green Lantern would be so cool, though,” Al said, his eyes lighting up. “The ring lets you make anything, and fly…”

“Their power is a lot like our magic, Al,” Harry said gently. “They have to follow rules when they use it. And the people in their sector trust them to keep them safe. They promise to use that power to help others, and not in ways that are selfish or cruel.”

“In brightest day, in blackest night,” Al intoned sleepily.

“Exactly,” Harry said softly, his eyes starting to sting a little. “No matter how bad things got, they agreed to do their best to help. They made mistakes along the way, and so did I, plenty of them, but you learn as you go and keep trying, until the job’s done. D’you understand?”

Al nodded again. “You did a good job, Dad.”

Harry kissed him on the forehead and smoothed down his hair. “Thanks, son.”

They said their goodnights and Harry switched off the little reading lamp by the bed. He paused in the doorway for a moment, watching his son drift off to sleep without a care in the world, his young face peaceful.

 _I guess I did,_ he thought, and padded down the hall to his room.

~

_Eleven years later…_

~

Al took a deep breath; he’d already double-checked his clothes and hair, and had everything he needed. Squaring his shoulders, he descended the stairs, grinning nervously as his family and friends gasped and cheered. Hugo gave him a high five as he left the last step, and Rose and Ariadne darted over to hug him. From the far side of the room, James shook his head, trying and failing to keep a smile off his face.

“Our boy’s all grown up,” Luna said, eyes glistening as she took Harry’s hand. “Doesn’t he look ready to save the universe?”

“He looks ready for something anyway,” Ron said. Hermione nudged him with her foot as she and the other adults strove to look supportive. “Will everyone at your party be dressed like that?”

Al laughed. “I hope not,” he said, tugging on the edge of his sleeve. “It wouldn’t be nearly as fun. And it’s a convention, not a party.”

Fred grinned. “Well, that makes it sound even _more_ fun.”

The others chuckled as Harry beckoned Al forward. “Come on, your Mother wants pictures before you leave.”

Al rolled his eyes but complied, moving farther into the room so they could better see his costume. The fitted suit only left his hands, head, and feet uncovered; it was all black, with a green chest panel and arm guards. His green boots moved soundlessly across the carpet, and when Luna had her camera ready, he gave her a stern look and held out his fist, where a ring matching the logo on his chest glinted from his middle finger.

James scoffed as the others cheered. “Are you going to recite the oath, too?” he asked, but when Luna waved him over, he threw an arm over Al’s shoulder with Ariadne and smiled for the camera. “We’ll go with you next year,” he murmured so the others couldn’t hear. “A wants to be Wonder Woman, and I’ll be Green Arrow or something. As long as no one I know sees us.”

“Looking forward to it,” Al said, giving him a small shove to keep up appearances. “Thanks for coming to my late birthday lunch, everybody. And thanks for letting me out of school for the Con, Dad,” he added eagerly, practically bouncing with excitement. “I’ll work extra hard for my N.E.W.T.s when I get back, promise.”

“You have such a cool dad, Al,” Hugo said, giving his own father a side-eyed look.

“Sorry yours has been such a disappointment,” Ron replied, not sounding sorry at all. “And don’t tell me you didn’t struggle with Transfiguration last year, you had no time for costume parties-“

“It’s a _convention_ ,” Al said again.

“-so you’re welcome,” Ron finished, ruffling his son’s hair.

“Do you have everything you need?” Harry asked. “You know where to go?”

“Desmond has our passes, he got to London first,” Al said, eyeing the fireplace. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

Harry nodded, swallowing thickly. “Mind your surroundings, and take a group picture with your friends, alright?” He smiled. “We want to see the whole Justice League.”

Al gave his parents a quick hug, waved to the others, and headed for the fireplace. As Ariadne and their cousins called out their goodbyes, Al strode forward, confidently recited the address, and stepped into the flames.

As James and Ariadne began putting away what was left of their lunch, Harry and Luna beamed at each other.

“It’s been hard to believe that he’s all  grown up, but when he came down the stairs in his uniform…” Harry shook his head, at a loss for words.

Luna leaned into him, her head on his shoulder. “His training is nearly complete,” she said solemnly.  “He’s ready to take on the world.”

Ron raised an eyebrow her way. “You know he isn’t _really_ a superhero, right?”

Harry shared another smile with his wife, and shrugged. “Isn’t he, though?”

**Author's Note:**

> The London Comic-Con is in late May, and I figured Harry would let Al leave Hogwarts for a day or two before his N.E.W.T.s started to blow off some steam. And for those of you who've read A World of Their Own and are curious about Al's Justice League, here's what everyone's wearing to the Con:
> 
> Al: Green Lantern (John Stewart)  
> Jack: Batman (Bruce Wayne)  
> Desmond: The Flash (Wally West)  
> Charlie: Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz , because he knows what Mars is, and that makes him feel a bit more like he knows what's going on)  
> Eddie: Superman (Clark Kent, because he refused to paint his face green, and he's just glad to finally take part in his friends' odd Muggle bonding rituals; and if his parents try to spy on him, the dark wig should throw them off the scent)
> 
> Thanks for reading, everybody! Feel free to check out my other HP stories, and have an awesome day!


End file.
